Westminster College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

college in

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...

. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

. The student population is approximately 1,307 undergraduate and graduate students.

History

Westminster formed as a result of a meeting on Jan. 21, 1852, between the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and Shenango Presbyteries. In 2009, ''

The Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...

ranked Westminster College "third in social mobility" among 253 liberal arts colleges. In 2010,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

ranked Westminster first in the nation as the "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math." In 2008 36% Westminster's graduating class received their degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)--and unusually, more of those STEM graduates were women than men.

Campus

Westminster is located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, a town of 2,466 residents located north of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and south of

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

on a campus.

Athletics

The Westminster Titans compete in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

athletics. Before moving to the NCAA, Westminster competed in the NAIA for many years. For a brief period, Westminster was a member of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. ...

(GLIAC). The Titans currently are a member of the

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. T ...

. The first official football game by the Westminster Titans was in December 1891. They lost to Geneva 42–0. The next year was the first official season; they played 4 games that year and went 3–1. Over the next 100 plus years, the Titans have had a record of 577–406–54. They are one of only 10 schools to record over 575 wins in school history. They have won the national championship 6 times with 11 undefeated seasons. Five former Titans football players have been enshrined in the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

: Harold Davis,

Joe Fusco Joseph B. Fusco (born February 3, 1938) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania from 1972 to 1990, compiling a record of ...

Larry Pugh Larry Pugh (born November 5, 1943) is a former American football player. He played offensive guard and defensive tackle for Westminster College. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana in 1998. College career ...

Harold Burry Harold E. Burry (May 31, 1912 – September 5, 1992) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania from 1952 to 1971, compiling a ...

and

Joe Micchia Joseph Micchia (born December 30, 1966) is a former NAIA Division II All-American quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are membe ...

. Hall of Fame head coach

Tuss McLaughry DeOrmond "Tuss" McLaughry (May 19, 1893 – November 26, 1974) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania (1915–1916, 1918, 1921), Amherst College (1922 ...

was not an alumnus but did coach the Titans for four years. The current head football coach of the Titans is Scott Benzel, who became head coach in 2014. Westminster men's basketball team lost in the national NAIA title game twice (1960 and 1962) under coach Charles 'Buzz' Ridl. Ridl was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame (1969), Western Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame (1980), and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (1992).

Publications

Westminster has one alumni publication and three student publications. The alumni publication is ''Westminster College Magazine'', which is a quarterly magazine detailing on-campus and alumni activities. The student publications include ''

The Holcad ''The Holcad'' is the official student newspaper of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. It is published every Friday during the academic year except the Fridays immediately before or after breaks and during finals. ''The Holca ...

'', a weekly student-run newspaper; ''Argo'', the student-run

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...

; and ''Scrawl'', a student-run yearly

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

Titan Radio

Westminster's radio station, Titan Radio (Digital 88.9/WWNW-FM) serves Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. The station streams online o
titanradio.net
and features a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format. The station is programmed and managed by students for the campus and the community. Programming includes live, local sports. Titan Radio broadcasts home football games for Wilmington Area High School during the regular season. The station also broadcasts regular season football games for the

Westminster Titans Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population is approximately 1,307 undergraduate and graduate students. His ...

live on the air and online. Titan Radio also broadcasts men's and women's basketball. In 2008, Titan Radio received a BEST CAMPUS RADIO STATION recognition from the

Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

ranking it among the Top 20 College Radio Stations in the U.S. That recognition continued in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2012 and 2013, the Princeton Review survey ranked Titan Radio in the Top 10. Titan Radio is a broadcast member of the Pennsylvania

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. The station is the only AP member station in Lawrence County. The station is also a member of the

Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters The Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, commonly referred to as PAB, represents radio and television broadcasters across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the National Association of Broadcasters The National Ass ...

(PAB). Titan Radio carries radio newscasts from

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

broadcasts on weekdays at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. Those newscasts are paired with two-minute Titan Radio newscasts covering local, state and campus news. These newscasts are produced and reported by students in the Titan Radio newsroom.

WCN

Westminster's television station is the Westminster Cable Network (WCN). It provides programming to

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

subscribers in New Castle & Lawrence County on channel 183. WCN is available on Armstrong Cable in New Wilmington on channel 72. Armstrong Cable also carries WCN in Lawrence and Mercer counties on channel 204. WCN creates and televises local programming including live high school football games, live Westminster College football games and Westminster Christmas Vespers. Other live programming includes the Lawrence County Band Festival and the New Castle Light Up Night parade. WCN produces a news magazine show, WCN 24/7 (formerly known as The County Line and Inside Lawrence County) and a weekly sports program called Coaches Corner focused on football in the fall and men's and women's basketball in the spring.

WCN 24/7

Titan Radio News and WCN operate WCN 24/7online a
wcn247.com
as a multimedia outlet for news, sports, information and entertainment content produced by Westminster students studying the Broadcast and Digital Communications major. Programming includes news stories covering the campus and community and Pennsylvania, podcasts, vodcasts, online documentaries and more.

Student organizations

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) exists primarily for governing and providing entertainment for the student body.

Greek life

The four social fraternities each have their own off campus house which junior and senior class brothers can live in. Each of the five sororities have their own respective hall in a sorority dorm building on campus that sisters can live in if they choose. The fraternities are:

Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social fraternity with 181 active chapters and provisional chapters. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest Greek letter fraternity in the United States. The f ...

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

, and

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 collegiate members across Nort ...

. The sororities are:

Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, making it the youngest member ...

Kappa Delta Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, wh ...

Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ye ...

Sigma Kappa Sigma Kappa (, also known as SK or Sig Kap) is a sorority founded on November 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. In 1874, Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, ...

, and

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...

Notable alumni

Eric Burns Eric Burns (born August 29, 1945) is an American author, playwright, media critic, and former broadcast journalist. Early life Burns was born and raised in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, a small steel town approximately 15 miles northwest of Pittsbu ...

– author, media critic, broadcast journalist * David S. Cercone – U.S. federal judge * Amy Marie Charles – professor of English literature at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro * Thomas C. Cochran – congressman, R-PA, 70th–74th Congresses (1927–1935) *

Thomas DiLorenzo Thomas James DiLorenzo (; born August 8, 1954) identifies as an adherent of the Austrian School of economics. He is a research fellow at The Independent Institute, a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute,Faculty Directoryan, ''accessed ...

–

Austrian School The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian school ...

economist and author, Professor at Loyola University in Baltimore *

JD Eicher JD Eicher (born July 27, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and novelist from the Youngstown, Ohio area. Both billed as JD Eicher & the Goodnights and independently as JD Eicher, Eicher has released nine albums—one of which al ...

– singer, songwriter, and producer *

Jennifer Elvgren Jennifer Elvgren is an American author and journalist, and has worked as a press secretary for the American politician Rob Bell. She is known for her books ''Josias, Hold the Book'' and ''The Whispering Town'', the former of which won the 2006 '' ...

– writer * William N. Johnston – president of

Wesley College (Delaware) Wesley College was a private liberal arts college in Dover, Delaware. It was acquired by Delaware State University in 2021 and is now the DSU Downtown campus. History The institution was founded in 1873 as Wilmington Conference Academy, a pr ...

2002–2015 *

Joe Jordano Joe Jordano is an American college baseball coach and former collegiate baseball player. He most recently served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers baseball team. He held that position from 1998 NCAA Division I baseball season, 1998 season t ...

– college baseball coach at

Tim Kaiser Tim Kaiser is a television producer who has worked on such shows as '' Seinfeld'', including the famous " Soup Nazi" episode, as well as ''Will and Grace Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the dispositio ...

– producer of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' and ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing), ...

'' and '' 2 Broke Girls'' * James Kennedy – Congressman, R-OH (1903–1911) * Gerald LaValle – Pennsylvania State Senator (1971 M.Ed.) *

Mark Longietti Mark Alfred Longietti (born January 16, 1964) is an American politician and lawyer. He is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 7th District and was elected in 2006. Early life and education He was ...

– Pennsylvania State Representative (2006–present) *

Amber Mariano Amber Joy Mariano ( née Brkich; born August 11, 1978) is an American television personality and winner of '' Survivor: All-Stars'' with its $1,000,000 prize, after appearing as a contestant on one of its predecessors, '' Survivor: The Australian ...

née Brkich – reality television personality (winner of '' Survivor: All-Stars''), married to

Rob Mariano Robert Carlo Mariano (born December 25, 1975), known by the nickname Boston Rob, is an American television personality, known for appearing in the CBS reality show '' Survivor''. He placed 10th in the show's 4th season '' Survivor: Marquesas'' ...

Andrew McKelvey Andrew McKelvey (October 13, 1934 – November 27, 2008) was an American business mogul and chairman and chief executive of Monster Worldwide. He was a billionaire and a philanthropist through the McKelvey Foundation. Personal life McKe ...

– chairman and CEO of

Monster.com Monster.com is a global employment website owned and operated by Monster Worldwide, Inc. It was created in 1999 through the merger of The Monster Board (TMB) and Online Career Centre (OCC). It is a subsidiary of Randstad Holding, a Dutch mult ...

(December 1996 – October 2006) *

– 2013

inductee * Daniel Migliore – theologian and author; Professor Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary * Samuel Henry Miller – congressman, R-PA, 47th, 48th, and 64th Congresses (1881–1885, 1915–1917) * Gladys Milligan – painter *

David W. Orr David W. Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics Emeritus at Oberlin College, and presently Professor of Practice at Arizona State University. During his tenure at the Environmental Studies Center at O ...

– Chair and professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College in Ohio and influential figure in educational reform"Orr, David." American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 24 September 2012 *

Deborah Platt Majoras Deborah Platt Majoras is the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, appointed May 11, 2004, by President George W. Bush and sworn in on August 16, 2004. President Bush had announced his intention to appoint her to the position on July 30, ...

– chairman of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

(August 2004 – 2008) *

Greg Nicotero Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film ''Day of the Dead'' (1985), under the tutelag ...

- special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director *

M. Richard Rose Merle Richard Rose (March 6, 1933 – April 10, 2021) was an American academic. He was the tenth president of Alfred University from 1974 until 1978, when he left to become the seventh president of the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1979 ...

(1955-2021) – former President of

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...

and the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

Jerry Schmitt Jerry Schmitt (born September 16, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Duquesne University, a position he had held since the 2005 season. Schmitt served as the head coach at Westminster College ...

– football head coach at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

, former player and coach at Westminster *

R.C. Sproul Robert Charles Sproul ( ; February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American Reformed theology, Reformed theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries (named f ...

– theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries * Margaret Toy née Moffat - creator of the first

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

program in the U.S.

Notable faculty

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

– (former) film maker and writer

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1852 Universities and colleges in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania 1852 establishments in Pennsylvania Liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania